Wedding timeline: what, when, who, where?

About 4 or 5 months before the wedding you should have signed contracts with all the main vendors and will be able to come up with a basic timeline of events and timings during the day.

One rule of thumb is always to allow more time than you think for everything. Ensure that you do not have really tight changeover times between a lunchtime reception and the evening party, for instance. The speeches may go on for much longer than planned, photos always take longer than expected, or perhaps you are just be enjoying yourself so much you will lose track of time!

If you have hired a wedding planner, they will take responsibility for the timeline (with your input of course), but if you are on your own, you will need to keep key vendors in the loop so that they know exactly where and when they need to be at a given time.

Having all of the key information written down on a spreadsheet or printout will help a great deal as the day approaches, and changes can always be made nearer the time.